Short Stories (KOTLC 2020)

Christmas (part 2)

( POSSIBLE TRIGGERS: swearing, mentions of alcohol )
(Important: this is my interpretation of the characters in 2020, some things may be slightly off or inaccurate and something's may not be what you imagine them. This is just for fun so don't be offended by any alterations :)
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The buzzing alarms went off in each room. It was 5AM in the Vacker household, and it was tradition for them all to wake up early. Biana woke up with ease, excited for all the presents awaiting downstairs and the warm hot cocoa her mother would be make. Fitz groaned, he wasn't in the mood to be up early. He grabbed his phone and hit the snooze button, hoping for 5 more minutes of rest. Alvar was already up, cooking a breakfast for his little siblings and parents. Della, their mother, was also up. She was working on making a bunch of hot cocoas and putting them each into their Christmas mugs. Alden, their father, was headed to the shower to wash off and wake up.
Biana ran down the stairs and into the kitchen,
"Merry Christmas!" She exclaimed and embraced her mother in a hug.
"Merry Christmas sweetheart." Della said then placed a kiss on Biana's wavy brown hair.
Alvar ignored them, but Biana went over to bug him anyway.
"What are you making?" She asked looking over his shoulder.
"None of your concern." He replied, trying to ignore her.
"It kinda is since I'll be eating it." She bugged.
"I'm making the same thing I make every year, now leave." Alvar snapped at her.
"Yeesh, okay grinch." Biana said, then headed into the living room.
Presents flooded the edges of the walls and under the trees, they ranged from all sizes big and small. It looked like the elves entire workshop had just thrown up in their house. Biana plopped down on the couch, pulling out her phone and sending a 'Merry Christmas' text to the group chat. Keefe almost immediately replied. Biana bit her lip. Christmas in his house had gotten harder and harder each year. She sent a text to him separately
'If you need anything, let me or Fitz know. Our door is always open, you know where the key is.'
He read it, but didn't respond. Biana took a deep breath, she couldn't help but worry about him. Her thoughts of worry were interrupted by an alarm going off again upstairs and a loud groan.
Fitz quickly shut off his alarm and dragged himself out of bed and into his bathroom.
"Stupid fucking tradition, 'Oh yes! Let's wake up at 5 AM every year! That's a great idea!'" He said mocking his family. His reflection in the mirror showed a tired teen boy, after a late night of partying. He was a bit hungover from last night. Every Christmas Eve they have a big family party, and since their are so many Vackers in one house no one notice the teens who sneak alcohol. Biana was smarter and didn't over do it, but Fitz had 1 to many and now was suffering the consequences. His teal eyes were half open and his hair was a mess, he tried styling it a little bit but ended up giving up halfway through. Then he headed down stairs and sank into the couch next to Biana.
"Someone didn't sleep well." Biana said and looked at the bags forming under his eyes.
"Fuck off." He said and closed his eyes, hoping for another 5 minutes. Biana lightly laughed and shook her head, then began guessing what her gifts were based on the wrapping. Three minutes later Alvar came in and dropped pancakes into their laps. Biana's had little chocolates in it that made a smiley face, and the whip cream made it look like it had a beard and Santa hat. Fitz's, well he had blue berries in the shape of a sad face and the syrup was used to create tears.
"Getting real creative with these Alvar." Fitz said sarcastically and looked up at him.
"Hey Im just resembling the Christmas spirit you guys have. In this case, you have none." Alvar said and sat next to them with his plain pancake.
"Oh yeah because you have so much." Fitz said gesturing to his pancake.
Alvar ignored him and began eating. Their mother came in shortly after with three mugs of hot chocolate. Alvar's mug was cracked, after he'd smashed it a few years ago. It was shaped to look like the grinches face, since he was always negative during the holiday season. His chocolate was plain, nothing fancy other than the fact that it was hot and it was chocolate. Then there was Fitz's. His mug was Rudolph, since as a kid it was his favorite movie. He would make them watch it 100 times. His hot chocolate had a candy cane in it and crumbled up peppermint sprinkled on top. Lastly was Biana's mug. Hers was a Christmas Winnie the Pooh, her favorite movie growing up. Her chocolate was covered by a mountain of whip cream and a bit of chocolate syrup on top. Biana whipped out her phone to take a picture for her snap story.
"Guys! Don't drink yet I wanna take a cute picture of the mugs!" Biana said as both boys went to take a sip. Fitz and Alvar just glanced at one another then continued to drink.
"You guys suck." Biana said and began setting her mug up for a picture.
"Here sweetie, I haven't drank mine yet." Della said, placing a mug with Mother Nature, Heat Miser, and Snow Miser down on the table. Her hot chocolate had a little bit of whip cream and a small amount of peppermint sprinkled on top.
"Thanks mom." Biana said, taking 5 minutes to get the perfect photo. Then she took it to VSCO for some editing before posting it on her story.
The 4 sat in silence sipping their hot cocoa until Alvar broke the silence.
"Dads been in there for a while."
"Oh! He uh, he got called into work. I forgot to tell you." Della said placing her drink down, her guy twisting as she saw the sad looks fill their faces.
"Of course he is." Fitz mutter and aggressively placed his drink down. Alvar responded with an eye roll, and Biana just sat with a disappointed look on her face.
"Kids, he would much rather be here with you guys but he can't blow off his job he'll get fired." Della frowned. Fitz was already over it. He was walking towards the gifts, and began grabbing the ones in sports wrapping paper.
"Shouldn't we wait—" Biana started but was shortly interrupted.
"For who Biana?! Dad?! He's busy, let's just get this over with." Fitz said, unwrapping his gifts. Piles of expensive sports clothes and equipment fell out.
Alvar placed a hand on Biana's shoulder and gave it a small squeeze.
"Hey, it wouldn't hurt to open a few gifts. I'll go talk to Dad and see if he can watch you open one okay?"
Biana nodded and walked over to her gifts, and took a deep breath. Hers were wrapped in shiny pink wrapping paper, she began opening her gifts. Make up, clothes, and accessories began to fill her pile. Alvar never opened his gifts with the family anymore, so his stayed wrapped in their plain blue wrapping paper. Alvar headed up stairs to check on Alden who was buttoning up his shirt.
"Not even gonna watch them open one gift huh?" Alvar said caring Alden to jump and turn around.
"I wish I could kiddo but I've got to go to work."
Alden replied and began tucking his shirt in.
"One gift. You can't watch them open one?" Alvar said, trying to convince him to go downstairs.
"I really need to leave—"
"Stop. Go down there, watch them open one fucking gift than leave. You're their father,  start acting like it." Alvar snapped and then began walking out of the room.
He walked back into the room and Biana gave him big puppy eyes.
"I did what I could, I don't know if he'll come down." Alvar said and sat next to Della who mouthed a 'Thanks for trying' at him.
Alden then rushed down the stairs.
"I only have time for one gift each, so I figured it might as well be the best ones."
He said holding two gifts in his hand. Biana ignored the gift and ran up to her father, wrapping his arms around him.
"Merry Christmas Dad."
"Hey! Careful not to wrinkle the shirt!" He teased, but Biana let go anyways. He handed her a gift which she quickly tore open. It revealed 4 backstage tickets to a Harry Styles concert.
"I figured you and your girlfriends could go. You know Sophie and the other two." Alden said, he wasn't home enough to remember the other two very well.
"Linh and Marella, Dad, they have names," she rolled her eyes but couldn't hide the smile on her face. She loved Harry Styles, there was no denying that. "Thanks Dad, I love them." She said and gave him a quick hug. Then Alden walked over to Fitz and handed him his gift. Fitz ignored it and continued to open the gifts under the tree.
"Hey, buddy, I'm sorry I'm not gonna be here." Alden said placing a hand on Fitz's back. Fitz shrugged it off.
"You turning more and more into your brother everyday, you know that?" Alden said which caused Fitz to snap.
"Like Alvar? Or like you Dad? You're the one constantly distancing yourself from the family, pushing yourself away. If you don't make an effort to show you care for us, why should we make it seem like we care about you?" Fitz said tossing his gift back at his dad, "thanks but I have no interest in a gift from you."
Alden placed it on the table, "I'm sorry kiddo."
He said then walked towards the door and left.
Della shook her head, "Fitz, he's trying."
"Yeah? Not hard enough." Fitz shook his head and headed up the stairs.
"Alvar please deal with your brother." She asked which caused him to follow up the stairs. She let out a sigh of relief. The boys caused a lot of tension in the house that stressed her and Biana out. Biana went and sat next to her mom, placing a gift in her lap.
"For me?" Della asked to which Biana nodded. Della smiles and opened it, revealing a bracelet with a little charm that symbolized Mother, Biana showed her the matching one on her wrist that symbolized Daughter.
"Biana I love it!" Della exclaimed and gave her daughter a big hug. They sat there for a bit before Della asked,
"How's Keefe and the Songs? I know Christmas is a hard time for them." Della asked, stroking Biana's hair.
"I don't know, they haven't answered much." Biana said, checking her phone again.
"I hope they are okay." Della said.
"Yeah me too."
A half an hour passed before Fitz and Alvar headed back downstairs. Fitz sat on the couch and Alvar headed to the kitchen. Biana glanced at Aldens gift to Fitz hoping he'd take a hint and open it.
"Fine, since you want to know so badly what it is." Fitz grabbed the and tore it open. A pair of car keys fell into his lap. He stared at them for a minute. They were keys to the car Fitz had been saving his money up for. He'd been saving for two years for this car. And his dad just bought it for him. Fitz wasn't sure if he was pissed of or happy, but Biana definitely reacted.
"A car?!" She exclaimed and jolted upright. Even Alvar entered the room.
"You're fucking kidding right?" Alvar asked.
Della pointed towards the driveway.
"Go see for yourself."
All three kids rushed to the window. Sure enough a shiny blue car sat in the driveway. Next to it was a familiar grey bike, which got the kids even more excited than the car ever would. The front door swung open and a tall, thin male with blonde hair stood at the door.
"Honey I'm home!!"
"Keefe!" Biana and Fitz yelled and rushed to the door as if they were little kids again. Biana wrapped her arms around him and Fitz gave him a smile. Keefe returned the smile, although pain was written all over his face. His eyes were red and puffy from crying, his hair wasn't as neat as usual, but the Vacker's knew not to ask. They also had a pretty good idea of went on.
The three walked into the living room, where Della was waiting with a bag of gifts in skateboard wrapping paper.
"Merry Christmas Keefe." She said and handed him the bag.
He shook his head, "Della I can't—"
"You have to. It's a rule."
Keefes eyes watered and he placed the bag down and wrapped his arms around her.
"Thank you Della."
"Of course Keefe, you're just as much my son as those two idiots."
Keefe laughed as a tear slid down his cheek. Della wen out of her way to make sure he always felt loved, that he had a parent who loved him. At his house he didn't, but here? He always knew he did. Of course just like early Biana interrupted due to curiosity.
"So, you gonna open them?"
Keefe let go of Della and sat down next to Fitz.
He opened gift after gift, none of the gifts being very cheap either. Vans, drawing pencils, canvases, paints, even the skateboard he'd wanted so bad.
"This is way too much, you shouldn't have spent so much." Keefe shook his head, not even sure how to act.
"No it's not, stop worrying." Della said, knowing it barely made a dent in their pockets. Either way, Keefe was worth it.
"I uh got you guys some gifts too. They aren't as exciting but..." Keefe said going to the door and picking a bag off the ground. He pulled out a few gifts, handing one to each of the four people in the room. Della opened hers first and let out a small gasp.
"Keefe..."
A tear streamed down her cheeks. In front of her was a painting of the tree Della and Alden planted after they got married. It was covered in bright pink flowers and even had the small detail of their initials carved into the tree. There was a bench in front of it and the swing that was hung when they had their kids for the first time. Keefe hadn't missed a detail.
"Oh Keefe this is beautiful. You are so talented." Della said and hugged him again. He wrapped his arms around her.
"I'm gonna hang it with all your other paintings in the hallway."
Della said, quickly letting go of Keefe and rushing to the hall to hang it up. Every year he painted her a new painting, it had become a tradition the last 4 years.
"Way to make us look bad." Fitz said, with a bit of a pissed off look.
"Yeah, my bracelet didn't make her cry and I'm her child." Biana disappointedly said.
Keefe bit his lip, "sorry but I think the favorite child award goes to me this year. Anyways why don't you open your gifts."
Biana tore hers open, a disposable camera and photo album fell in her lap. The album had been painted by Keefe with symbols that had meant a lot to each person in their friends group, and was covered with inside jokes.
"Now you can store your photos somewhere other than Snapchat." He teased.
"Yeah I'll store them right up your a—"
"OKAY my turn." Fitz said, shaking his head. He tore his open revealing a rolled up poster. When he unrolled it, there was a huge picture of him playing football. It looked like a real sports photo.
"You can thank Linh for the cool editing and graphics. We worked on it together."
Fitz put it down and pulled Keefe in for a side bro-hug, "thanks dude that's sick."
Lastly was Alvar, who refused to open his gift in front of everyone. But Keefe knew he'd like it. Him and Dex had worked on making a gadget that would help Alvar spy on his father. Who could blame him? Alden kept secrets, and always pretended everything was okay.
Moments pass before they all gather in the kitchen for dinner, which wasn't cooked due to Alden not being there. So Della decided to serve dessert instead. They all dig into the different cakes and brownies, listening to Christmas songs on repeat. The house was full of laughter and holiday spirit, even from Alvar. Then Keefe's phone rang. A face time call.
"Guys I'm gonna take this I'll be right back."
He headed to the bathroom and quickly answered the phone.
"Hey Foster, Merry Christmas."